A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for starting a fire which led to a fatal explosion in a fireworks factory in the Dutch town of Enschede.

Phone records indicated de Vries was in the area when the fire began

Andre de Vries, a former kick boxer, was found guilty after judges ruled that he had deliberately begun the May 2000 blaze, which killed 22 people, injured hundreds and flattened more than 400 homes in one of the worst disasters in Dutch history.

The court said that de Vries was aware that his actions would have "deadly consequences".

Prosecutors conceded that blame for the accident was shared between de Vries, the town of Enschede which failed to control the licences and the owners of the factory who did not enforce safety standards.

"I did not do anything, man, you are nuts," an enraged De Vries shouted as he was dragged away by the guards.

Damning evidence

De Vries was arrested one month after the explosion when he reportedly tried to set fire to his car in an insurance scam, French news agency AFP reported.

The court accepted de Vries had not intended to kill the victims

Mobile phone records had shown him to be in the Roombeek district, where the blaze began, on the day of the fire.

This evidence, along with witness testimony, evidence of powder burns on his clothes, and his own incriminating statements all combined to reveal his guilt, prosecutors said.

However the court accepted mitigating circumstances that he was of "below average intelligence" and did not appear to be intent on killing the victims, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Defence lawyers for de Vries said they would consider an appeal.

In April this year a court sentenced the two owners of the fireworks factory to six months for illegally storing fireworks.

The presiding judge had also harshly condemned Enschede authorities for failing to prevent the country's worst fireworks disaster, saying they shared the blame.